184
A PRISONER OF THE KHALEEFA
across any straggler on the desert, a few dollars would silence his tongue, for the dollar is not more "almighty" in America than it was in the Soudan. Supposing the dollars did not appeal to him, and your bullet missed its mark, the chances were a thousand to one against his picking up your pursuers on the route you had come, for they would make to the settlements near the river, and waste their time in useless inquiries, while you were lengthening the distance between you.
